2001: Times-Union reports “Thrasher admitted breaking ethics laws”

John Thrasher was elected FSU BOT chair about two months after he admitted to an ethics violation

Back in July of 2001, the Florida Times-Union reported that former Florida House of Representatives Speaker John Thrasher “admitted breaking ethics laws forbidding former legislators from lobbying lawmakers within two years of leaving office. He has agreed to pay a $500 fine.”

“Sure I regret it, but it was not an intentional violation,” Thrasher said in a quote published by the newspaper.

According to the Times-Union, “In February, Thrasher asked a group of South Florida lawmakers to attend a luncheon to meet with Tad Foote, then-president of the University of Miami and one of Thrasher’s clients.”

The Florida Commission on Ethics voted 6-2 to approve the $500 settlement with Thrasher on September 6, 2001.

The Times-Union added that: “Thrasher could have faced a $10,000 fine because of the infraction. In 1993, he was fined $500 for lobbying a state medical board on behalf of the Florida Medical Association.”

Gov. Jeb Bush had appointed Thrasher to the inaugural Florida State University Board of Trustees in June, 2001. The board later elected him to serve as its first-ever chair on September 24, 2001.